Singapore: Day 60

Today, I missed my alarm and overslept until about 10:20 AM. Two months of sleep deprivation have definitey worn me down, and I can't wait to go home and finally hibernate. While I was walking to the Kent Ridge MRT station, I couldn't resist my craving for Mr. Bean; whoever put Mr. Bean next to the MRT station is very clever, because whenever I am near the Kent Ridge MRT I am always tempted to make a quick stop at this delicious soya dessert store. I ordered my usual warm 25% sugar soya milk and tried the cheese pancake. As usual, it was delicious! I don't know how I am going to survive in the U.S. without soya milk and pancakes, especially since I eat them so frequently in Singapore. 

Cheese pancake and soya milk

 I arrived into lab in the afternoon, and quickly picked up my project. I ran a gel for the two genes that I left in the PCR machine yesterday as well as ran PCR for two more genes. I only need to run one more gel tomorrow, and I will be done with my project at last! I worked efficiently and quickly, such that I finished all that I needed to do that day by 4 PM. As a result, I left work early to explore Tanjong Pagar. Ever since last night, I have been craving the Pad Thai Jessica had for dinner; the egg prata also did not fulfill my craving for murtabek, so I wanted to actually eat mutton murtabek. That is why, at 5 PM, I found myself at Amoy Street Food Centre eating another huge feast.

Amoy Street Food Centre during the day

Pad Thai and mutton murtabek

The meal was very delicious, because I was able to satisfy my craving for Thai food and Indian food simultaneously. It is rare that I have cravings for two very different foods, and I was immensely happy that I was able to fulfill both. I quickly ate the food and shortly began my explorations of Tanjong Pagar afterward. 

Tanjong Pagar was one of those places that just resonated with me. I am not sure why, but sometimes a place just feels like home and we can't explain it. I felt this way with Chinatown as well, but I had the chance to explore Chinatown and now was my opportunity to explore Tanjong Pagar. I first went to the Red Dot Museum only to find it closed until August 2 (the day I leave Singapore, sadly); however, the receptionist gave me a "Design Map" that pointed out many stores in the area that featured creativity and design. I made it my goal to find the Little Drom Store. Here are some shots from my journey to find the store. I was lost on multiple occasions, which gave me the perfect opportunity to explore the area.

Thian Hock Keng Temple

Statues detailing Chinese processions

Ann Siang Road

Finally found you!

The interior of the store. Such a cute find!

At the Little Drom Store, I purchased a pair of hand-made owl earrings as a commemoration of my journey. It was fun exploring Singapore with friends, but I wish I had more independent journeys like the one I had today. Perhaps I like being by myself, but there is nothing like getting lost with a map.

After my explorations, I returned to PGP, took a quick shower, and headed to Holland Village for dinner with Luke, a graduate student I recently met. We ate at Cha Cha Cha Mexican Restaurant, and I ordered the Enchiladas de espinaca y papa. The food was pretty good, considering that it is Mexican food in Singapore. It was not comparable to the Mexican food in California, but it fulfilled my cravings for Latino food. 

Enchiladas de espinaca y papa (sorry for the poor image quality)

 Afterwards, we went for dessert at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which is an Asian chain store similar to Starbucks. I ordered the raspberry cheesecake, which was overpriced at $5.80 and at best decent. As a baker of cheesecakes, I am quite critical about what a good cheesecake is, and this one was definitely too thick and dry. However, like the Mexican food, it satisfied my cravings for Western desserts.

Raspberry cheesecake

Looking into the distance

After our dessert stop, we made our way back to PGP and separated ways. It was an interesting encounter with Luke, to say the least. When I returned to my room, I showered and continued working on my blog until the AM.

Singapore: Day 59

Today, I stayed up working on my blog until 3 AM, and as a result, I missed my alarm. I originally planned to wake up at 7 AM so that I could prepare for my SASE West Regional call at 8 AM. Thankfully I woke up a few minutes before 8 AM and did not miss the call completely; however my laptop froze on me (I had too many tabs open for the blog) and I entered the call late, much to my chagrin. The call gathered the presidents from the SASE chapters of the West Region, and it was interesting to finally meet everyone. We discussed general updates, the National SASE Conference, expectations of us, etc. and the call ended shortly after 9 AM. I then had a call with Jesmin, our SASE Vice President, so that we could discuss the direction of our SASE chapter while filling out the transition survey from National SASE. Both of us are still inexperienced and have much to learn as SASE leaders, but I am sure that we will make an effective team and improve our Berkeley chapter. I ended up talking to Jesmin for more than 3 hours; it was a great bonding experience, and I look forward to getting to know her better. The SASE calls were the perfect way for me to return to reality and transition into the Berkeley environment. I have so much to return to (SASE, UCSF interview, Cal Camp, etc.) and I cannot afford to be weak right now.

I already contacted Jianxiang about coming into lab later because of the calls, so I made my way to lab after a quick shower. While waiting for the MRT, I scheduled appointments for a haircut and manicure/pedicure on Thursday. Laney and James received haircuts from Shunji Matsuo at Holland Village, and because I liked both their haircuts, I decided to schedule an appointment at the same venue. This haircut holds a certain significance to me: I am planning to chop off my long hair for a short cut. I've always wanted to try short hair, but have been too afraid to. However, my experiences in Singapore (I will talk about them in a concluding post) have changed me in that I am no longer afraid to make this leap.

In lab today, I was able to analyze the data with Jianxiang and determine which experiments I needed to repeat. I had six genes whose results were strange, so I repeated my experiments with those genes but with slight moderations to the temperature and the number of cycles (this was to support specific binding)  I ran PCR and a gel for two genes as well as completed PCR for two more genes. By this time, it was 7 PM and I was late to my dinner with Jessica. We had planned to meet at the Tajong Pagar MRT station and head to dinner at Amoy Street (a recommended hawker centre I found online.) After I arrived half an hour later and apologized for my lateness, we walked over to the two-story food centre.

Amoy Street Food Centre

 I ordered the ipoh hor fun ($3) and egg prata ($1.40) for dinner. I wanted to have mutton murtabek again before I left Singapore, but because the Muslim stall did not have it anymore, I settled for the egg prata. Jessica ordered a delicious looking Pad Thai from the Thai food stall. The meal was very delicious, especially the ipoh hor fun. I loved the rich flavors and the sweetness of the dish! The egg prata was a bit disappointing, but it satisfied some of my craving for Indian food.

Ipoh hor fun

My feast of a dinner!

After we ate, we went onto the MRT and separated ways. It was a lonely train ride back home, because for the first time, I felt truly alone in this foreign country. These past few days have allowed me to question what "home" means as well as question myself about what home means to me. I will share my conclusions soon! At the Kent Ridge station, I stopped by Mr. Bean and bought a mocha red bean cake. You would think that I'd be full, but I made room in my stomach to try this lovely dessert. I've been meaning to try the cakes at Mr. Bean, and this was the perfect opportunity to. The cake was an interesting one; it was a mix of the West and the East. The cake was prepared in a Western style, but the layers of red bean and the green tea flavor made it Eastern. The first few bites tasted a bit strange, but eventually the cake tasted delicious.

Perhaps I should have noted that I ate this cake at the PGP lounge, because I planned to continue working on my blog in the lounge. I moved in between rooms in search for a quiet space. Eventually I found one next to the laundry room. During this time, I met the other student in the study room (I randomly asked her where I could buy food at 11 PM, after seeing her with two boxes of pizza); apparently she attends university in Canada and has been working in a lab on campus for the past three months. It's very interesting the diverse people you meet while abroad and how kind they are, as she gave me a slice of her pizza and even offered me more. After conversing for a while, we returned to our respective workloads: I went back to working on my blog and catching up on the 30+ posts I must update, while she worked on her lab presentation the next day. I want to completely update my blog by the time I leave Singapore so that I can analyze my experiences, reach a conclusion, and move on. Hopefully I can do so!